Character Imitation
This article was copied (instead of imported) from the now-deleted Awful Movies Wiki from the Wayback Machine. |
Sometimes, after children and younger people watch a movie that has a scene that would be dangerous to try at home. They imitate the characters of what they were doing dangerous and they would have killed themselves or someone else, feel guilty, or get arrested. The most notable story on this page is Child's Play 3.
The Program
One Sunday evening, in the rural town of Stoneboro, Pennsylvania. an 18-year-old named Michael Shingledecker and his schoolmates piled into three cars and went to the local drive-in theater to see The Program. It's about what it takes to make a college football team. To prove his worthiness as a gridiron warrior, the film's protagonist, Joe Kane, lies down on the double yellow line in the middle of a busy highway while speeding cars pass within inches of his face. After the film's release, some boys decide to re-enact this dangerous scene. Although Michael was not anxious to participate, neither did he want to be labeled a "chicken" by his peers. When the cars passed, the students jumped off the pavement with a surge of adrenaline and celebrated with a round of high-fives. The following weekend, the boys returned to U.S. 62 to try the stunt again. After the second exhilarating experience, Michael Shingledecker didn't get up from the road. So he got run over by a truck and died instantly. After this incident, Walt Disney Studios removed the thrill-seeking scene from the movie on Friday.
Child's Play 3
By failing to put safeguards and controls on entertainment for children, America has the dubious honor of being the largest exporter of video violence for children around the world. On February 12, 1993, two 10-year-old boys named Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, abducted, tortured, and murdered a 2-year-old named James Patrick Bulger away from the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle, Merseyside, England, Before the incident, Thompson and Venables were seen stealing various items including sweets, a troll doll, some batteries and a can of blue paint, some of which were later found at the murder scene. Bulger was taken to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, around a quarter of a mile from the New Strand Shopping Centre, where he was dropped on his head and suffered injuries to his face. The boys joked about pushing Bulger into the canal. An eyewitness during the trial said that when he saw Bulger at the canal, he was "crying his eyes out". During a 2.5-mile walk across Liverpool, the boys were seen by 38 people. Eventually, the boys arrived in the village of Walton, and with Walton Lane police station across the road facing them, they hesitated and led Bulger up a steep bank to a railway line near the disused Walton & Anfield railway station, close to Anfield Cemetery, where they began torturing him. The boys threw blue Humbrol modeling paint, which they had shoplifted into Bulger's left eye earlier. They kicked him, stamped on him, and threw bricks and stones at him. Batteries were placed in Bulger's mouth. according to the police, some batteries may have been inserted into his anus, although none were found there. Finally, the boys dropped a 10-kilogram (22 lb) iron bar, described in court as a railway fishplate, on Bulger. He sustained 10 skull fractures as a result of the bar striking his head. Alan Williams, the case's pathologist, stated that Bulger suffered so many injuries. 42 in total none could be isolated as the fatal blow. Thompson and Venables laid Bulger across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in the hope that a train would hit him and make his death appear to be an accident. After they left the scene, his body was cut in half by a train. Bulger's severed body was discovered two days later on 14 February. A forensic pathologist testified that he had died before he was struck by the train. The two youngsters admitted that their evil actions were inspired by a violent horror movie they saw entitled "Child's Play 3". They were both found guilty on 24 November 1993, making them the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history. They were sentenced to detention during Her Majesty's pleasure until a Parole Board decision in June 2001 recommended their release on a lifelong license aged 18. In 2010, Venables was sent to prison for breaching the terms of his license and was released on parole again in 2013, in November 2017, Venables was again sent to prison for possessing child sexual abuse images on his computer.